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Heart & Blood Vessels

Dictionary: Open-Heart Surgery

Open-heart surgery is surgery that involves opening the chest and heart. A heart-lung machine does the work for the heart and lungs during the procedure.

Dictionary: Right Atrium

The right atrium receives blood low in oxygen from the body and then empties the blood into the right ventricle.

Dictionary: Right Ventricle

The right ventricle pumps blood low in oxygen to the lungs.

Dictionary: Sano shunt

A Sano shunt is a small, soft tube that lets blood in the body be redirected.

Dictionary: Single Ventricle Defect

Having a single ventricle means that only one of the heart's two ventricles (pumping chambers) works well enough to pump blood.

Dictionary: Superior Vena Cava

The superior vena cava is the large vein that returns blood from the head and arms to the heart.

Double Outlet Right Ventricle (DORV)

Double outlet right ventricle (DORV) is a heart defect where the aorta connects to the heart in the wrong place.

Ebstein Anomaly

Ebstein anomaly is a rare heart defect that affects the tricuspid valve. It can cause problems that range from very mild to very serious.

Echocardiogram

An echocardiogram (also called an echo or cardiac ultrasound) uses sound waves to create pictures of the heart. It shows the structure of the heart and its parts and how well they’re working.